Our First Christmas
by NarutoNinja44InHidingDude
Summary: Paul remebers his first Christmas with Dawn as he takes his son to see Santa with the Ketchums. Ikarishipping very slight Advanceshipping. One-shot.


**A Christmassy story for all you Ikarishippers. I use my little OC's to help with the story, but it's mainly Ikarishipping, with some Advanceshipping.**

_Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, I own my OC's though. _

Our First Christmas

"Dad?" Seth called out throughout the house, "Dad? Where are you?"

"In my study," Paul answered back gruffly.

Seth smiled and ran towards the room. He skidded to a stop when he reached it and walked in to find his dad looking over some documents for work.

Sensing his son's presence, Paul merely said, "What do you need?"

Seth smiled, "Can we go to the mall, Dad?"

"No," Paul answered swiftly, switching papers to look over another document.

Seth pursed his lips, "But, I wanna see Santa…" Seth looked at his feet in disappointment.

"We're not going, Seth. It's Christmas Eve, you'll get your presents tomorrow and then you won't even have a thought about seeing Santa," Paul told Seth bluntly.

Seth scowled, "But, why? Amber's going, and so is A.J." The lavender haired boy crossed his arms defiantly.

"Good for them," Paul replied, checking off some boxes on the paperwork.

Seth looked out the window into the snow covered courtyard, "And Chase's dad is taking _him_."

Paul signed the bottom of his paper and switched to the next, "And you are still not going, Seth."

Seth's scowl increased in intensity, "And Lily and Daisy get to go, too. Their mom is taking them to the mall."

"For the last time, Seth, You're not going to see Santa." Paul finished, reading over his last paper.

A pause induced the two as Seth glared at his father's back and Paul ignored him. Seth finally gave up and started out the door, but not before he said aloud, "_Mom_ would've taken me."

--

"That was cruel, Seth, you're not gonna get more presents from Santa for making your dad hurt," A brunette girl yawned as she waited in line next to Seth.

"_You'd_ do it too, if your dad didn't let you see Santa," Seth retorted, crossing his arms in front of his dark blue jacket.

The girl frowned, "Well, it's still kinda mean, Seth. I mean, you've been using the mom card lately. He's gonna soon be able to bypass it," She took a step to the side and looked around the crowd to see how much longer they had to wait.

Seth chuckled as she pouted at the lines length, "Relax, Amber. I think I can keep this going until we at least get our Trainers Licenses."

"Keep what up?" A.J. asked innocently, his seven year old face screwed into a confused look.

"Nothing, and move up," Amber commanded, nudging her brother to move with the line, "Honestly Seth, you'd think you'd have more respect for your mom."

Seth gave a taken aback look, "I'm shocked, Amber," Amber raised an eyebrow at him; "Not very joking today are you?"

Amber sighed, "Dude, your mom _died_ and your dad obviously feels horrible about it. Can't you give a little more respect?"

Seth frowned and ignored her comment by saying, "Too bad Chase, Lily and Daisy couldn't come, eh?"

"Yeah," Amber agreed looking across the cafeteria to her dad and Seth's dad.

--

"C'mon, Paul, cheer up, it's almost Christmas!" Ash smiled at him, punching his arm playfully.

Paul continued to look at the fountain in the middle of the mall, "It's almost January," He remarked gloomily.

Ash frowned, "Well, at least be happy for the holidays. Dawn didn't die until the 11th," The inky-black haired man commented as he took a sip of his soda. He eyed Paul's uneaten pretzel, "Hey, are you gonna eat that?"

Paul glanced at the salty snack and pushed it towards Ash without a second thought, "Still, I wished it was me rather than her."

Already half-way through the pretzel, Ash remarked, "Dawn would've been really devastated and probably would've kill herself. And Seth would probably be living with Reggie; at least you didn't kill yourself."

Paul glared at Ash who immediately backpedaled, "Well, Dawn's a strong girl, so maybe she wouldn't have killed herself and Seth wouldn't have to go to Reggie. Um, look, a-a-a fountain!" Ash pointed to the electric store instead as he tried to escape Paul's glare.

Paul looked back at the fountain as a thought reached through his head, "I remember our first Christmas too…"

"Paul! Paul! Wake up!" A cheery voice rang through his ears over and over. He felt himself getting pushed out of bed, "Paul! Wake up! Santa came! He came!"

Paul landed on the ground with a 'thump' and groaned in response, "Dawn, we're not little kids. I'm 26," He looked out of the window to see daybreak was just starting, "What time is it?"

Dawn sat down beside him and giggled, "It's 6:47, Paul! Now, c'mon! Get up! Get up! It's time for presents!"

Paul groaned once more as he untangled himself from the bed sheet and slipped a red t-shirt over his torso as Dawn was jumping up and down excitedly in her long pink nightgown.

Paul shook his long purple hair and looked over at Dawn whose face was bright and happy, "Hold on, Dawn. I gotta brush my teeth." He started to walk towards the bathroom but Dawn caught his arm first.

"That can wait," Dawn said, kissing his lips gently, "Presents first."

Paul frowned as the blue haired girl dragged him through the hallway, down the stairs and into the living room where a fake Christmas tree was decorated –Paul didn't want to cut down a real tree-.

To his surprise, there were more presents under the tree then he had put there the night before. He turned to his girlfriend, "What did you do?"

Dawn giggled happily, "Nothing at all! I just woke up this morning and when I went to turn on the Christmas lights, there were tons more presents!"

Paul looked suspiciously at the presents and then to Dawn, "And how do you know _I_ didn't put them under the tree?"

Dawn let go of his arm and skipped over to the tree, she picked up a fairly large box and brang it over to Paul, "Look at this handwriting," She commanded, pointing to the tag that was labeled: To Paul; Love Santa, in curly handwriting.

Paul's eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs, "I didn't know you could write that way, Dawn."

The bluenette rolled her eyes, "I can't. I've never seen this handwriting before though, so I knew it wasn't from _you_, though you certainly do write like a girl," Dawn added in smugly as Paul gave a sigh.

Paul took the present from Dawn's hands gingerly and looked over it, "Well, I guess we have to open these now, huh?" Paul asked hesitantly as he looked over the present.

Dawn beamed brightly and started to drag her boyfriend towards the presents, "Of course! C'mon, I hope I get a new Piplup pillow!" Paul made a crazy face at the site of that when he would wake up every morning and quickly prayed that she wouldn't get it.

As the morning went, the couple opened up many presents from each other as well from Santa, each getting something they've asked for. Much to Paul's chagrin, Dawn _did_ get her Piplup pillow and laughed at his expression when she opened it.

"I'm not going to sleep with it, don't worry," Dawn assured him with a smirk.

Paul eyed it suspiciously, "I hope not, that thing's embarrassing."

Dawn giggled, "I'm gonna save it though," she continued, looking at it from all angles.

"Why?" Paul asked in exasperation.

Dawn stopped looking over it and stared at Paul, "Well, for my future kids, of course."

Paul raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know I got you pregnant, why didn't you tell me?"

Dawn rolled her eyes, "No, not yet. In the future though, when I'm married and stuff."

"To me, right?" Paul asked hastily.

Dawn set aside the Piplup pillow and was now grabbing another present, "What?"

Paul rolled his eyes, "We're gonna have kids, right? And get married to, right?"

Dawn flipped the present over and looked at the tag, "Well, it depends," Paul's stomach felt like it sank, "It depends if you're ever going to propose to me, Paul."

Paul's mouth felt slightly slack, "Well, I, um, well," Paul stuttered as he tried to fit the words together in his head.

Dawn laughed and sat next to him, giving him the present in her hands, "It's alright, Paul," She kissed his lips in assurance, "We're still young. You can wait all the time you need too." She rested her head on his shoulder.

Paul looked down at the present, "Alright," He said, flipping the present over to look for the tag.

"It's for you, I checked," Dawn spoke easily, flipping the package to an end to show a tag that read: To Paul; Love, Dawn, in her scratchy handwriting.

Paul smiled and started to tear it gently, Dawn giggled, "You can rip it open, I'm not saving the paper."

Paul looked at her and complied, "Fine," He then took a handful of the paper and tore the whole side off it one rip, he smirked at her as she stuck her tongue at him.

"Well, look at it, big-shot," Dawn teased him, pointing to the gift.

Still smiling, Paul looked at the present, his face fell. It was a clothing box; he was getting _clothing_, the sinner of Christmas presents. He hesitantly picked the box out of the wrapping paper and held it up, "Er…"

Dawn sniggered, "I knew you'd do that, it's much better than you think, Paul," Dawn said, as she traced hearts on his arm with her finger.

Paul opened the box's lid and his mouth dropped, "This is…This is…" He held up a pink shirt with a Skitty wearing a Christmas hat and mistletoe with white sparkles all over.

Dawn laughed at his expression, "I had to, I'm sorry, Paul."

Paul didn't answer; all he did was staring at the shirt with loathing as Dawn stood up to retrieve more presents. While she had her back turned towards him, he hid the pillow underneath his seat cushion before she could notice where it was.

"HEY PAUL!" Ash yelled in his friends face, waving his hand's like an idiot.

Paul snapped out of his flashback and looked at Ash, "What?" He asked bitterly.

Ash pointed over his shoulder, "C'mon, Scrooge, our kids are almost next."

With a grunt, Paul lifted himself out of his seat and walked over with Ash to their kids after throwing their trash away.

"Dad! Dad!" A.J. waved his father over, smiling up at him.

Ash beamed at his look-alike son, "Hey, A.J.! Ready for Santa to ask you what you want?"

"Yeah! I want tons of things! I want a Machoke action figure, the new Super Electrike comic book, some Pokémon Trading cards," A.J. went on as he counted his presents off his fingers.

The raven haired man looked at his daughter, "And you, Amber?"

Amber smiled up at her dad, "Well, Mom already took me. So I'm just gonna ask for a cheese sandwich as a joke."

Seth laughed at her answer as did Ash and Paul couldn't help but smile at the nine year olds words.

Ash then glanced at Seth, "What about you, kid?"

The purple haired boy gave a thumbs up, "You'll see, Mr. Ketchum!" His bright blue eyes shone from behind his bangs.

Amber chuckled in front of him, "I bet he's gonna ask to be ten faster."

Seth scowled at her, "No, it's better than that! And what're _you_ gonna ask for?"

Amber turned around heatedly, "I told you, a cheese sandwich!"

"That doesn't count!" Seth retorted angrily, crossing his arms at her.

Amber nodded her head fervently, "It does so! It's much better than your stupid gift!"

"It's not a gift, idiot!" Seth yelled at her.

Amber scowled and opened her mouth to retort but Paul stepped in, "You two stop fighting, it's almost Christmas."

Ash nodded with his friend, "Yeah! Peace on Earth and all that good stuff, you guys!"

Amber and Seth looked at each other then away angrily.

Paul looked up at the ceiling and fell back into his memories…

"We're lucky your dad left us the mansion for the holidays, Paul," Dawn commented as she stacked her presents into a neat pile next to the TV.

"Yeah, we don't need your explosive cooking to get in the parties way, huh?" Paul retorted as he finished stacking his presents sloppily.

Dawn glowered at him, "Hey! I'm getting better! Those cooks your dad hired have been teaching me some things…" Dawn trailed off angrily as she stood up to look at her pile.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist, "I was kidding, Dawn, you're a great cook. You just experiment _too_ much," He kissed her on the top of her head and released her.

Dawn turned around to look at him, "You really think I'm a good cook?" She asked with a tender voice.

"Of course," Paul smiled towards her then stretched his back, "Uhg, well, we should get dressed and eat now. Everyone's coming over in an hour."

Dawn's eyes widened then screeched, "One hour!? Oh, Arceus! I gotta hurry!" Dawn then ran off upstairs to get ready for the guests. This left Paul to laugh at her familiar dilemma.

"Yay! It's my turn!" A.J. cheered, waking Paul once more from his day dreams. Paul cursed the loudness of the Ketchum family.

Beaming happily, A.J. bounced up to the large man in a red suit and sat on his lap, "Hi, Santa!"

"Hello, little boy! What's your name?" The man said to A.J.

The black-haired boy smiled, "A.J.! A.J. Ketchum!"

Santa smiled back at him, "Well, A.J., what do you want for Christmas?"

A.J. took in a large breath and started listing off all the things that popped into his mind while Ash was taking pictures with a camera. Amber started talking to Seth again.

"It better be a good gift you want if you don't wanna tell us," Amber said to Seth, her deep blue eyes meeting his bright blue ones.

He glared slightly at her, "It's not a gift, Amber," Amber gave him a then-why-come-here look, Seth continued, "It's a wish."

"Oh, Ho-oh, please help me with this nut-job," Amber pleaded to the sky as she ignored Seth's glares.

"And I really really want a lightsword from Star Battles, and and," A.J. thought for a second then smiled at the fake Santa, "That's it!"

The Santa gave a sigh of relief and said, "Well, that's a big list, A.J., but I'll see what I can do."

"Cool!" A.J. smiled and jumped off his lap and ran over to Ash, "Dad! Dad! Didya see? Didya? Didya?"

Ash picked the boy up, "Yeah, A.J., and I got the pictures your mom wanted. So now we just need Amber to get on with hers and Seth with his mysterious answer."

"Next!" The elf called in a bored tone, allowing Amber to go through.

"Finally," Amber yawned then trotted over to the fake Santa and jumped on his lap.

"Oof," Santa let out, surprised by her weight, he smiled at her and said, "Well, Hello little girl! What's your name?"

"Amber." The brunette answered smugly, waiting for the big question.

Santa smiled, "How old are you, Amber?"

Amber grinned, "Almost ten."

Santa let out a jolly laugh, "Really? So do you want your Trainer's License for Christmas, Amber?"

Amber smirked, "I guess, but what I want the most…" Amber paused for a second then answered, "Is a cheese sandwich."

Santa's mouth shut tight and before he could answer her, Amber had jumped off his lap and called back, "Thanks, Santa! I knew you'd pull through for me!" She then let out a howl of laughter as she walked over towards her father.

Santa let out a sigh and mumbled something about his job and then motioned for the next person. The elf the called out, "Next," and Seth walked over to the man.

"Hello, little boy," Santa welcomed him as Seth sat on his lap.

"Hey," Seth answered with a smile.

Santa took in a deep breath, "What's your name?"

"Seth Shinji," Seth answered still smiling.

"And what do you want for Christmas, Seth?" Santa asked kindly.

Seth frowned, "Well, I don't know if you can do it."

The fake Santa merely went 'ho-ho-ho' and replied, "I can do many things Seth, and if you've been a good boy, I'm sure you can."

Seth looked up and gave a straight face, "I want to go back in time and stop my mom from dying."

The two looked at each other for a few brief moments before Santa cleared his throat and said, "Well, Seth, that's a…a tall order there. How about I get you a Machoke Action figure," The clad red man pleaded with him.

Seth pursed his lips, "I knew you couldn't do it," He then raised himself off Santa's lap and walked over to his dad.

The boy looked up at Paul but was once again trapped in a daydream…

"When're you gonna propose to her, Paul?" Drew asked, blinking a bit from the alcohol he's indulged that night.

"I agree, marry her, dude," Ash added on, beer in his hand.

"You, guys, leave him alone. He'll propose when he's ready," Max commented, taking a swig from his own beer bottle.

Ignoring Max's comments, Ash and Drew continued to berate Paul. Ash spoke up in a slurring voice, "C'mon man, you've been going out with her for what? Two years?"

Drew nodded, "Yeah and you two _finally _spent a Christmas together," He took a sip from his mug, "Its perfect timing, dude."

"Obviously I'm being ignored," Max said to no one and looked around the kitchen.

"I'm happy where I am, guys," Paul spoke back easily.

Ash made a face, "My ass, you are."

"Yeah, Paul," Drew agreed, "Stop being a total dumbass and propose to her."

Paul's eyebrows furrowed, "She said she can wait this morning. She said I can take my time."

Drew rolled his eyes, "Paul, let me tell you something. It's all a trick; girls put tricks on your mind. She _hinting_ at you that you gotta propose to her or else she's leaving."

"Says the whore," Max said indifferently.

Drew turned around, "I thought you need to be 21 to drink."

Max looked at his almost empty bottle, "I'm turning 21 in less than a month, leave me be."

Drew turned around and refocused on the previous conversation, "Anyways, she's letting you know that you gotta propose soon, Paul, or else she'll break up with you."

"Bullshit," Ash swore, gulping down the rest of his alcohol, "Me and May have been going out for even more then Paul and she said that a few months ago and she's still here."

Drew took the last gulp of his beer as well, "Well, May's a special case. Dawn's a normal person; she'll give those hints if anyone."

Paul merely sighed and took a swig from his beer.

"MCDONALDS!" Amber shouted enthusiastically. Paul clenched his teeth at the girl's loud mouth that she inherited from her father.

"NO! ARBY'S!" A.J. yelled even louder, making Paul realize that they were in a car.

"But we _always_ go to Arby's! We never go to McDonalds!" Amber whined childishly.

"Where do you want to go, Seth?" Ash asked Paul's son.

Seth shrugged and replied, "Anywhere's fine."

"McDonalds it is! Onward my steed!" Amber ordered as if she got it from a movie.

"Is McDonalds okay with you, Paul?" Ash asked from behind the wheel.

Paul looked out the window, "Yeah, I guess."

"That's not fair!" A.J. whined then started to cry loudly while Amber repeatedly told him to shut up.

They made their way to the drive through and Amber had to cover A.J.'s mouth with her hands to muffle the crying so her dad could order. Seth helped by covering his hands over hers to help until the food was passed around and A.J. had finally stopped crying.

"Yummy! French fries!" Amber cheered as she shoveled the fries into her mouth in between bites of her hamburger.

"You have no manners," Seth accused her, taking a bite from his chicken nuggets.

"Well, you're an idiot," Amber countered back, chugging her soda quickly.

"Arby's is better," A.J. complained after every bite of his hamburger.

Ash scarfed down his Big Mac and large fries and continued to drive, "You guys, fight nice, we don't need any bloody noses."

Amber giggled with the last half of her burger in her mouth, "You can't _fight nice_ dad, that's impossible!"

Paul ignored the upcoming fight as he threw his trash into the McDonalds bag and refocused his attention out the window. Another memory came back into his head…

"We'll see you two soon, it's been a wonderful time," May complemented happily.

"It was, and I hope we do it again sometime," Dawn agreed completely.

Ash and Paul looked at each other while their girlfriends said their good-byes, Ash then grinned at pointed to his ring finger.

Paul gave his head a quick shake showing he meant no.

Ash pouted and mouthed to him 'Why not?'

"Good-bye, Ash. You too, May," Paul finished, giving a quick glare to his friend who rolled his eyes at him.

"Good-bye you two!" May waved them off and walked out the door with Ash who rolled his eyes over his shoulder and walked away with May.

Dawn closed the door and looked at Paul, "What was that all about?" She asked nosily.

Paul stretched his back and replied, "Nothing, just an inside joke."

Dawn narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Are you sure it wasn't about proposing to me?" She continued smugly.

Paul turned towards the stairs and said, "Nope. Nothing like that."

Dawn pouted, "Really? Because it seemed that way…"

"Nope, you got the signals mixed there, Dawn," Paul answered, walking up the stairs to go to bed.

Dawn followed him, "Well, just so you know, Paul. If you _do_ wanna propose,"

"Which I don't," Paul interrupted.

"Which you don't," Dawn repeated, "I will say yes. And I told you this morning, you can take all the time you need, I can wait."

Paul looked over his shoulder towards her and sighed, "I got it, Dawn. Let's just go to bed, okay?"

Dawn frowned once more, "Alright, Paul, if you say so…"

--

"Dad! Dad! Wake up! Hurry!" Seth yelled, jumping up and down on his bed.

Paul blinked his eyes open and looked up at his look-a-like son, "What do you want, Seth?"

A wide grin overcame his face, "It's Christmas! And guess who came!"

Paul sat up and groaned, "Who came, Seth?"

Seth jumped up and down again, "Santa did! He came dad! He left you and me a gift too!"

Paul gave a doubtful face and asked, "Only one for each of us?"

Seth shook his head, "No, he gave us each the same one!" The boy jumped off the bed to the ground and started to pull his Dad's arm, "C'mon! Let's open them!"

Paul sighed and climbed out of bed, following his overly energetic son through the hallways and down the staircase to the living room with the same fake tree.

"It's here, Dad!" Seth called, picking up a small present and bringing it over to his dad, "Open it!"

Paul looked at the tag and in the same curvy handwriting in said: To Paul and Seth; From Santa. Paul's eyes widened a bit before he made them go back to normal and opened the package to see a picture frame with him, Seth, and Dawn five years ago in the picture. Seth was playing in the snow and making a snowman with Dawn as Paul was picking sticks off the ground for its arms.

"How'd he get this?" Paul said aloud, trying to remember when the picture was taken.

"Let me see!" Seth asked, trying to grab the picture from his father's hands.

"Here," Paul said, handing it to his son who held it high in the air with his arms and scanned it. Paul glanced at the back to see some writing in the same curly scrawl:

_I thought this was a nice time to frame, Dawn sends you her best wishes. Have a Merry Christmas. ~Nicholas Clause_

Paul's mouth dropped at the writing and read over it a second and third time. He then remembered the last thing about his first Christmas with her…

"Paul," Dawn asked in the dark.

Paul sighed and rolled to his side in attempt to see her in the darkness, "What?"

He felt the bed creak as she moved as well to see him, "Do you think it really was Santa Clause?" She asked innocently.

"I dunno, Dawn, get some sleep," Paul answered quietly.

A pregnant silence came but the two of them did not shift positions, "Paul," Dawn called softly again.

"Yeah?"

"I really hope we have a girl so she'll want the Piplup pillow more," Dawn commented.

"Again, did I get you pregnant and not know about it?" Paul asked teasingly.

Dawn chuckled, and moved forward so her head lay on his chest, "I'm just saying, when we get married and stuff…"

"Hey, Seth, wait here for a second," Paul demanded as he walked up the stairs and went into his closet.

He searched through the back where a chest of all of Dawn's stuff was and dug out the Piplup pillow, he put it under his arm and closed it swiftly and walked downstairs.

"Hey, Dad, did you read the back? It's from Santa and Mom," Seth called to his dad as he sat on the couch and read the back over and over.

"Yeah, I did, Seth. Listen," Paul said, sitting next to his son, "Seth, I think Dawn, I mean your mom. I think she wanted you to have this," He pulled the Piplup pillow from behind himself and presented it to Seth.

Seth took it and looked over it, Paul looked towards the tree, "I don't know if you like Piplup's or not, but it was your moms and-"

"It's awesome!" Seth cried happily, a smile on his face. He hugged it happily, "I want a Piplup when I start my journey!" He paused for a second then asked, "Dad, did Mom have a Piplup when she started?"

Paul smiled and said, "Yeah," He chuckled to himself, "She loved them."

--

**Longest one-shot I think I've written. Hope yall enjoyed it.**

**Review if you liked it, lurved it, wanna marry it, or whatever. Also, Merry Christmas!**


End file.
